HBO's The Last of Us TV adaptation is getting rave reviews from critics

We’re less than a week away from the highly anticipated debut of HBO’s live-action The Last of Us TV adaptation and early reviews from critics are positively glowing, with the series currently enjoying a 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes across more than 40 reviews at the time of writing.

First announced back in 2020, HBO’s The Last of Us TV adaptation has been written and created by Chernobyl’s Craig Mazin, alongside Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann. It stars Pedro Pascal as Joel and Bella Ramsey as Ellie, with other notable cast members including Nick Offerman in the role of Bill, Jeffrey Pierce (who played Joel’s brother Tommy in the Last of Us video games) as quarantine zone rebel Perry, Gabriel Luna as Tommy, and Merle Dandridge, who reprises her video game role of Marlene, the leader of the Fireflies resistance.

The last few months have seen HBO’s PR machine crank into top gear as The Last of Us’ January release approaches, with December bringing the show’s second full-length trailer. Now, though, some lucky professional critics have had the chance to watch the entirety of the show’s first season, and – despite some notable changes to the source material – the praise is effusive.

Renowned horror site Bloody Disgusting, for instance, described the series as “so exceptionally and meticulously crafted…it has effectively shattered the ceiling for video game adaptions”, while RogerEbert.com called it a “confidently grounded” and “fascinating deconstruction of the game that leans on character and storytelling instead of action”.